UPS systems; one-stop solution for efficient, reliable and clean energy supply

Leading UPS providers believe that the demand for UPS technology in India is being driven by rising power consumption, automation, digitalisation, and industrialisation, all of which necessitate stable power for uninterrupted commercial operations.

With India being the second largest consumer of electricity in the world, there is also a hunger for continuous power. India is the third largest producer of electricity in the world. Despite the introduction of various government policies to become an electricity-surplus nation, India is still not able to meet this target, and its peak power deficit stood at 0.8 percent, while the overall energy deficit remained 0.6 percent. 

According to Harish Dave, Associate Vice President – Sales, Industrial UPS Business Division, Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics Private Limited, “Today, the global demand for energy is increasing, fuelled by the demand in emerging economies and the growth in the overall global economy.” This also raises demand for clean and reliable power, boosting the industrial UPS market. Industrial UPS play a huge role in the pursuit of high availability and higher productivity by providing power protection. Applications for UPS will expand due to increased energy efficiencies, more infrastructure and smart city investments, and expanding emerging economies. The long term outlook for the industrial UPS market remains positive.

According to Syed Sajjadh Ali, Managing Director, Electrical Sector – Eaton India, “The UPS market is poised to grow with a CAGR of 5.8 percent until 2025. Ratings for > 500kVA are expected to grow in double digits due to many hyper-scale and COLO datacenters being built.

According to Satpal Singh, CEO, Numeric UPS, “Smart cities, infrastructure development, and digital governance have also contributed to the demand and this will continue to grow as more and more small towns and cities are brought into the fold.” Businesses apart, the demand for UPS in the residential segment has also gone up significantly. Technology-enabled homes need a robust power back-up and this segment is bound to grow further. In all, technological advancements and the shift towards digitalisation hold a promising future for UPS brands. “ 

Market drivers

“The pandemic has in fact strengthened the organised market, with corporations turning to established and reliable players for uninterrupted business continuity. Service in UPS is a crucial part, and brands that had a proven network of service centres and quicker access to customers were at an advantage. Another interesting need was that there was no contact service, with health and safety being the priority. We, at Numeric, were able to address this need with our quick and smart solution through DIY UPS, a simple need-based innovation through which we were able to ensure the business continuity of our customers.

The UPS industry is growing swiftly, both in terms of size and demand. Interestingly, the demand for power from rural and semi-urban areas has also accelerated. Today, every office, institution, and business is IT-driven. However, the biggest reason for the adoption of UPS systems is the shortage of power and the gap between demand and supply, which is the leading factor driving the industry’s growth, says Harish.

Agreeing to the discussion, Syed views digitisation as a key growth driver for UPS systems in India. Every service that is becoming digital, such as online classes, content creation, and consumption, is driving the increase in the number of datacenters built. With more datacenters being built; records of no large UPSs are being procured and installed. At the same time, more and more industries are looking for continuous and clean power and are looking towards UPS systems as a one-stop solution, he adds.

Technology, an enabler for efficient utilisation of UPS systems 

Whether in the industrial or commercial sectors, keeping the OpEx low is a critical business goal. With the advent of modular technology, UPS systems are designed to not only operate at high efficiency but also increase savings in energy bills and real estate. This is possible due to the high efficiency levels at which the UPS operates, low THDi, and compact footprint, “explains Satpal. Furthermore, PWM IGBT 3 level inverter and rectifier technology with double conversion online technology makes it possible to achieve maximum energy efficiency and, at the same time, guarantees total load protection at all conditions.

UPSs play a huge role in the pursuit of high availability and higher productivity by providing power protection. Companies increasingly seek solutions to achieve a higher degree of availability by minimising downtime, interruptions, and the resulting impact. To this end, high-availability control systems are designed to incorporate two controllers and transfer control to the “backup” controller to minimise downtime. This provides increased reliability and performance compared with a system without a backup controller, “adds Harish.

Highlighting Eaton’s technology, Syed elucidates how their modular and super-efficient semiconductor technology (like the Sic Hybrid module) is cutting down on the energy losses happening in power conversion inside the UPS and helping customers achieve 97.5 percent efficiency in double conversion online operation. Apart from that, with the help of Eaton’s patented technologies like VMMS (Variable Module Management System), ESS (Energy Saver Mode), customers can realise the highest efficiency even at fewer load conditions without sacrificing the availability of the UPS system, adds Syed.

Business prospects for UPS systems in the Indian power sector

With digitalisation, IoT and investments, India holds formidable opportunities for growth, especially in healthcare, infrastructure, industries and data centres. “The need to secure power for mission-critical applications coupled with a reliable and efficient solution gives an impetus to the need for uninterrupted power back-up,” opines Satpal. On the other hand, the hybrid work model has shifted the action from the metros to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. This has further fuelled the demand for power back-up in small towns and cities for uninterrupted work from home.

As India’s UPS business continues to grow, and looking at global energy trends, UPS will not just remain a device to store energy but will start to participate in grid stabilisation programs. With the emergence of lithium-ion batteries in datacenters, which offer higher cycle life, fast charge, and discharge, UPSs can be used as “UPS as A Reserve” and can participate in programmes to optimise supply and demand generation. Eaton, with its Energy AwareTM feature, is leading this segment and has partnered with some of the world’s largest datacenter operators to convert idle sitting power into revenue while also contributing to grid stabilisation, adds Syed.

Hitachi Hi-Rel expects that this value proposition will be elevated in the traditional process sectors as well as discrete industries as producers move to just-in-time manufacturing in discrete production environments. This will drive the demand for industrial UPSs across many industries in India.

The way forward

Many UPS products that serve the market have extensive data communication capabilities where Ethernet connectivity has become widely accepted. While Ethernet is widely used, the underlying issue is that the communication tools and protocols are not aligned with what is widely used in the industrial sector. Effectively, the UPS solutions are IT-oriented, where it is common for IT-oriented products to provide remote monitoring using the internet standard “Simple Network Management Protocol.” Both of these communications take place over an Ethernet network to which the UPS is connected.